ORANGE : Pupils to Get Homework Help on TV

You’re stumped by multiplication homework that is due first thing tomorrow and there’s no one around to help. Who ya gonna call? Homework Hotline.

Students in the Orange Unified School District receive extra help each year from the district-sponsored “Homework Hotline,” a live television program that airs at 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday on the local cable educational channels 23 or 25.

The hourlong show went off the air in December when no host could be found. This week the hot line reappeared with a new tutor-host and a new feature: aid for Spanish-speaking students.

For the first time since the program went on the air in 1984, “Homework Hotline” will have a bilingual host who can answer questions in both English and Spanish.

About 12% of students in the Orange Unified School District are Latino and speak English as a second language. “Homework Hotline” will answer questions on any subject from kindergarten pupils through 12th-grade students.

“I don’t think kids are addicted to television, but it’s an important element in their lives,” said Roland Espinosa, the show’s new host. “This way they can just conveniently tune in and get help with their homework.”

Questions are answered in the caller’s language, for which Espinosa asks his viewers’ patience. He admitted that it may be difficult to keep both Spanish and English speakers interested in the show.

“You have to keep the pendulum right in the middle,” he said.

Although no Spanish speakers called in the program’s first days, Espinosa and others said they think Latino students will call once they realize the service is available.

“Even if a child is not calling, they are doing some learning,” said Sally Boyne, coordinator of instructional media for the district. “The show sets a tone that learning is important and that there is help out there.”

This year, the school district and the Orange Public Library are cooperating to help draw the Latino audience. Espinosa is assistant director of The Friendly Stop, a library satellite that opened earlier this year to serve Spanish speakers. If he cannot answer a problem handily on the telephone, he refers the caller to the Orange Public Library reference desk or to Friendly Stop.

“Mostly, I try to give the show a little enthusiasm, a little pizzaz,” he said. “I really want to get them involved and interested.”